


Marked

by codefiant



Category: Hyakujuuou GoLion | Beast King GoLion, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Akira/Sven if you squint, Alien Keith (Voltron), Angst, Backstory, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Guns of Gamara, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-14 16:10:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11786718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codefiant/pseuds/codefiant
Summary: Akira's mother had always told him,never ever go out without your birthmarks covered, never ever let anyone see them,and he hadn't understood but he had covered them up anyway, and she had beamed and called him a good boy and a star child.Then he went to space, and was captured by aliens who called themselves the Altean Empire, and he understood.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: there is a mention of sexual assault and child abuse. There's also a reference to violent amputation, though nothing on-screen.

Akira's mother had always told him, _never ever go out without your birthmarks covered, never ever let anyone see them_ , and he hadn't understood but he had covered them up anyway, copying what she taught him until he could do it perfectly, and she had beamed and called him a good boy and a star child. He didn't know why it was so important, and when he asked her she said she would tell him when he was older.

But he was never old enough, and his mother vanished when he was eight, fleeing. The cops came to their apartment and searched everywhere, calling out whenever they found something, and asked him if she had ever hurt him or touched him where he didn't want her to. She hadn't, and he told them that, but he didn't think they believed him.

This is something he did understand when he was older. A man, raped and murdered, cut into pieces and thrown in the river. Six of them actually, going back years, each body disposed of in a different way. And everyone who knew, it was all they cared to understand, and then he's fifteen, staring in the bathroom mirror wishing he was someone else's son.

For an instant he became someone else's son, and then he screamed and the image vanished and he sat down hard on the toilet and tried not to start hyperventilating.

With practice he became, well, not good, but he could hold it for longer and change more. But it was never foolproof, and he never could change his eyes, his second most unnatural physical trait, that made anyone who had to quantify them for medical or identification purposes throw up their hands. A girl once told him that they were like a supernova and the prettiest eyes she had ever seen. She dumped him the next week, after finding out why he had no mother.

So he was Akira Kogane, the murderer's son with the anime eyes, and at one point he wondered if the eyes were all anyone remembered of him, so he got colored contacts, but all that came of that was people accusing him of trying to hide, because why else would you cover up your most memorable trait? Akira continued to keep the birth marks a secret, and wondered what would happen if he didn't. He wondered why they were a secret.

Then he went to space. His team were captured by alteans, and he saw their faces, and he _knew_. And he wondered what his mother would have told him if she had been given the chance.


	2. Chapter 2

Akira staggered into his quarters, shedding a line of bloody clothes on his way to the bathroom. He scrubbed his skin raw under the spray of the shower, knowing that he wouldn't get any sleep tonight.

Shorty had been blown up by an altean bomb. He had survived, but recovery would be long and brutal. He had screamed so loud, and when he finally passed out Akira had been half convinced he was carrying a corpse.

So no, he wasn't going to sleep tonight. When he was done in the bathroom he tossed his clothes in the shower, not able to deal with them right now, changed into his pajamas, and fell face-first on his bed. The water from his hair seeped into the collar, leaving it damp and uncomfortable, but it was a welcome distraction.

There was a single rap on his door, then it opened. “Hey Chief?” Isamu started. “Can we talk?”

Akira rolled over and pushed himself up. “Yeah Moody, what's...” he trailed off when Isamu's expression changed. He was staring at him in horror. Akira frowned in confusion. Then it hit him, and a hand flew to his cheek.

_His altean marks weren't covered_. “Isamu, I-”

Isamu cut him off with a shouted, “Altean!” He rushed forward and grabbed a fistful of Akira's hair and yanked him off the bed with it, causing Akira to yelp. The struggle was brief, Akira not wanting to hurt his friend, and Isamu feeling no such compunctions. It ended with Akira pinned against the wall, toes barely scratching the floor, Isamu's hands around his neck.

Akira struggled to breath, to beg for his life, but nothing could get through. “ _How dare you?_ ” Isamu screamed in his face. “We trusted you! Shorty lost his legs because of _your people_!”

Akira's vision tunneled to practically nothing before Isamu dropped him, someone in the background saying something he couldn't understand. He sprawled on the floor, coughing and gasping. He somehow found the strength to roll over, to look to the open door to see who had interrupted them.

Tsuyoshi and Sven, staring at the two of them. Isamu was pointing at him and saying something, but Akira's brain wasn't working, he couldn't process the words. He didn't even see the foot coming before it hit his stomach, causing him to groan and curl up into a ball.

Then Tsuyoshi was pulling Isamu away, out of Akira's quarters, and Sven was kneeling at his side, rubbing his back. Akira slowly uncurled and found the strength to speak. “Why?” he asked hoarsely.

“Why what? Why didn't we let him kill you?” Sven smiled. “We're all on edge after what happened to Shorty, and you know how Moody gets. He'd regret it as soon as he got his head on straight.”

“But-”

“Stop,” Sven cut him off. “Just listening to you is giving me a sore throat. Let me get you some water.”

Akira let Sven get him a glass of water, then help him into bed before he spoke again. “Why do you care?”

“Because you're our Chief?” Sven responded. “I'm not going to pretend that this isn't completely unexpected, but it's not like what happened today was your fault.”

“What about the rest of it? What if, we could be fighting my family.”

Sven gave him a deadpan look. “Akira, if you're trying to convince me that birth families are everything, you're talking to the wrong transracial adoptee.”

Akira curled up. “What if one day I'm about to save someone's life, your life, and an altean goes, 'Guess what, I'm your father,' and I hesitate and you die?”

“What if that doesn't happen? I can go get Slav if you'd like, he'll tell you all about-”

Akira cut him off. “Please don't.”

Sven spotted his small smile and returned his own. “We're going to be fine, okay? Everything's going to be fine.”

Akira slowly slipped one of his hands into Sven's. “Please don't leave me alone.”

“I won't.”

Despite his predictions, Akira did sleep some that night. It wasn't restful by any means, but it was more than he had been expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have _headcanons_ about why Chibi is able to jump as ridiculously high as he can.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr: codefiant.tumblr.com


End file.
